CÉLINE (Louis-Ferdinand Destouches, called Louis-Ferdinand). - Lot 54

Lot n° 54
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CÉLINE (Louis-Ferdinand Destouches, called Louis-Ferdinand). - Lot 54
CÉLINE (Louis-Ferdinand Destouches, called Louis-Ferdinand). Letter to the_x0002_tographer signed with his initials, to Charles Deshayes. "On the 15th" [Klarskovgaard near Korsør in Denmark, March 15, 1950, according to the postmark]. 2 pp. folio, envelope preserved, in the margins, a few cracks and a lack without affecting the text. As his trial was about to begin in France, Céline reacts here to the anonymous publication, in Les Cahiers de la Résistance (n° 4), of a virulent article by Maurice Vanino entitled: "L'Affaire Céline. L'École d'un cadavre". "Dear friend, "L'Affaire Céline" did appear, but in Les Cahiers de la Résistance and of course in the sense: Kill him! Don't hesitate! He is worse than Brasillach! etc. He deserved a thousand times more to be executed! etc. A WHOLE MESS OF NONSENSE, INVENTIONS, FIDDLING AROUND IN THE LEGAL-SERIOUS GENRE! IT IS INFECT. Of course the Communists BOOKS & AUTOGRAPHS THURSDAY, APRIL 29, 2021 68are in on it. You see me giving verses (he quotes them!) to the Stürmer [Der Stürmer, Nazi weekly]. Here we are, on the other side of the Iron Curtain! That's it! And in a decorum of impartiality. I think I recognize the hand of Tecxier, who specialized in the industry of my persecution (ex-draftsman at the N[ouve]lles littéraires) [the writer and journalist Jean Texcier, Resistance fighter and socialist]. You see, they find funds to publish! There is no crisis in the book trade for them! I even believe that through some obscure sentinel they have blown your title!... "IN EXILE IN DENMARK. With his wife Lucette, Céline took refuge in this country after the Liberation and escaped the arrest warrant issued against him in April 1945. The French ambassador learned of his presence in October 1945 and requested his extradition. Céline was then arrested in December, but the Danish government deemed the charges against him insufficient and refused to extradite him, while keeping him in captivity, first in prison until February 1947 and then in a hospital until June 1947. He was then released on the promise not to leave Denmark. Convicted in France in February 1950, Céline obtained an amnesty in April 1951 and was able to return soon after. DESHAYES, "A FERVENT YOUNG MAN WITH AN EXCELLENT PAMPHLETEER'S PEN, A TEMPERAMENT" (CÉLINE). Charles Deshayes, a young journalist from Lyon and a passionate admirer of Céline, was eager to defend the man he called "dear master," even "dear great master. Having come into contact with him through his lawyer, Maître Naud, he wrote L'Affaire Céline, which he did not manage to have published: Céline encouraged him for a while before becoming annoyed by his clumsiness and especially worried about additional unwelcome publicity.
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